What To Do When The World Kicks You Down
Sometimes it can feel like everything is against you, that no matter how hard you try things still keep beating you down. Most of us have had this feeling, and it is very unpleasant. There can be a sense of helplessness, a feeling of complete deflation.
Feeling discouraged can put an immediate stop on all positive progress that you have worked so hard to achieve. It can cause what you once looked at as motivation to seem completely mundane and pointless. At this point you can start to believe the negative self talk that you have worked hard to avoid. You start to believe that things just weren't meant to work out for you. If you are not careful, this can become a truth.
When the world kicks you down, the first thing we must do is take a deep breath, step back and begin to analyze the situation. Most of us can seemingly make situations worse by dwelling on factors that we cannot control.
We begin to create scenario’s in our mind that center around a “what if” statement. We create, and begin to worry about things that haven’t even happened yet. By taking time to breathe and analyzing the situation, we can see that factors that are within our control.
No matter what the situation is, always remember to control your thoughts first. Control what you believe about yourself and how strong you can be. You must always believe that no matter how bad it gets, that you are strong and can handle anything.
This sometimes can seem easier said than done. But, with practice and focus this will become one of the best habits you can build for yourself. Vince Lombardi once said “winners never quit, and quitters never win” — Make sure that you never quit on yourself.
After we control our thoughts we must now begin to control our actions. By examining your situation and figuring out what we can control, we can now focus on taking action. We must focus on picking one problem at a time, one thing that we can control and fixing it.
Wash, Rinse and Repeat — Once one problem is solved, we move onto the next. Stay focused on one problem rather than the whole situation. Many will argue that we should always do the hardest task first, while others say to start small and build momentum. But there is a third option, which factor is causing you the most stress? That is the problem that I have always zeroed in on first.
Sometimes the problem that is causing us the most stress is neither the largest or smallest. However, it can yield you the best return if solved first. Remove as much stress as your possibly can. In moments of defeat it can be extremely hard to think clear or rationally. Stress clouds our judgement and can cause ripple effects of negativity in our lives.
By removing what is causing us the most worry, we will begin to think clearer and with more focus. The feeling of that weight being lifted off of your shoulders will build your momentum and confidence in your positive self talk — You can do this.
Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. No matter how hard life has beat you down, you can’t fix everything in one day. The best way for you to relieve stress and not be kept awake at night by constant worry, is to take things one day at a time.
Make it a goal everyday to do the very best you can. That is what you can control. Your final thoughts while laying in bed will be: “ I can do this, solve one problem at a time. I did my very best today, and that’s what I need to do tomorrow”.
Sometimes life will kick us down, it can seem unfair and down right cruel. The first thing that we can control is our thoughts, remove all negative self talk. Take a deep breath and begin to make a list of all factors that you can control. Remove the factors that are causing you the most stress. And remember, sometimes we can’t fix everything in one day. Just take it one day at a time, and one problem at a time. Never quit on yourself.
- Brandon Henderson
